China Cementing Global Dominance of Renewable Energy and Technology

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Titan Wind Energy to Spend USD71 Million on Henan Turbine Blade Plant
TANG SHIHUA
DATE : AUG 08 2019/SOURCE : YICAI

Titan Wind Energy to Spend USD71 Million on Henan Turbine Blade Plant​

(Yicai Global) August 8 -- Titan Wind Energy (Suzhou) is planning to invest CNY500 million (USD71 million) to build a CNY500 million (USD71 million) wind turbine blade plant project in China's East-Central Henan province.

The new facility will form business synergies with its existing wind turbine tower manufacturing and wind farm development businesses, the company announced yesterday.

The company inked a corresponding investment agreement with the province's Puyang county on Aug. 6, per the announcement.

The announcement did not state the product specifications for the proposed project, but indicated that, as the technology develops, this stokes market demand day by day for larger blades and for higher turbine power and towers.

Titan Wind Energy is China's largest maker of turbine towers and related products. It is the designated supplier for the US General Electric, Denmark's Vestas, Spain's Siemens Gamesa, the French Alstom, China's Goldwind and other international wind turbine equipment manufacturers, information on its website shows.

The company already has a turbine blade production base in its home province of Jiangsu in southeastern China.

 

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Solar now ‘cheaper than grid electricity’ in every Chinese city, study finds
JOSH GABBATISS
12.08.2019 | 4:56pm

Solar power has become cheaper than grid electricity across China, a development that could boost the prospects of industrial and commercial solar, according to a new study.

Projects in every city analysed by the researchers could be built today without subsidy, at lower prices than those supplied by the grid, and around a fifth could also compete with the nation’s coal electricity prices.

They say grid parity – the “tipping point” at which solar generation costs the same as electricity from the grid – represents a key stage in the expansion of renewable energy sources.

While previous studies of nations such as Germany and the US have concluded that solar could achieve grid parity by 2020 in most developed countries, some have suggested China would have to wait decades.

However, the new paper published in Nature Energy concludes a combination of technological advances, cost declines and government support has helped make grid parity a reality in Chinese today.

Despite these results, grid parity may not drive a surge in the uptake of solar, a leading analyst tells Carbon Brief.

Competitive pricing
China’s solar industry has rapidly expanded from a small, rural programme in the 1990s to the largest in the world. It is both the biggest generator of solar power and the biggest installer of solar panels.

The installed capacity of solar panels in China in 2018 amounted to more than a third of the global total, with the country accounting for half the world’s solar additions that year.

Since 2000, the Chinese government has unveiled over 100 policies supporting the PV industry, and technological progress has helped make solar power less expensive. This has led to the cost of electricity from solar power dropping, as demonstrated in the chart below.

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Chart showing the historical levelised cost of electricity (LCOE) from solar power in China. Source: Yan et al. (2019).

In their paper, Prof Jinyue Yan of Sweden’s Royal Institute of Technology and his colleagues explain that this “stunning” performance has been accelerated by government subsidies, but has also seen China overinvesting in “redundant construction and overcapacity”. The authors write:

“Recently, the Chinese government has been trying to lead the PV industry onto a more sustainable and efficient development track by tightening incentive policies with China’s 531 New Policy.”

The researchers say the subsidy cuts under this policy in 2018 were a signal that the government wanted to make the industry less dependent on state support and shift its focus from scale to quality.

This, they say, has “brought the industry to a crossroads”, with discussions taking place in China about when solar electricity generation could achieve grid parity.

In their analysis, Yan and his team examined the prospects for building industrial and commercial solar projects without state support in 344 cities across China, attempting to gauge where or whether grid parity could be achieved.

The team estimated the total lifetime price of solar energy systems in all of these cities, taking into account net costs and profits, including project investments, electricity output and trading prices.

Besides establishing that installations in every city tested could supply cheaper electricity than the grid, they also compared solar to the price of coal-generated power. They found that 22% of the cities could build solar systems capable of producing electricity at cheaper prices than coal.

Embracing solar
Declining costs of solar technology, particularly crystalline silicon modules, mean the trend in China is also playing out around the world. In May, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) said that by the beginning of next year, grid parity could become the global norm for the solar industry.

Kingsmill Bond, an energy strategist at Carbon Tracker, says this is the first in-depth study he has seen looking at city-level solar costs in China, and is encouraged by this indication of solar becoming ever-more competitive. He tells Carbon Brief:

“The conclusion that industrial and commercial solar is cheaper than grid electricity means that the workshop of the world can embrace solar. Without subsidy and its distorting impacts, and driven by commercial gain.”

On the other hand, Jenny Chase, head of solar analysis at BloombergNEF, says the findings revealed by Yan and his team are “fairly old news” as the competitive price of rooftop solar in China has been known about for at least a year.

She notes that this does not mean there has been a huge accompanying rollout of industrial and commercial solar, and says this is partly because of the long-term thinking required for investment to be seen as worthwhile.

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Workers install solar panels on the rooftop of a textile factory in Nantong, China. Credit: Imaginechina Limited / Alamy Stock Photo.

The lifetime of a PV system tends to be around two decades, whereas the average lifespan of a Chinese company is only around eight years, according to Chase. Furthermore, there is an even simpler explanation, as she explains to Carbon Brief:

“There’s also the fact that companies just can’t be bothered a lot of the time – there are roofs all over Europe where solar could probably save money, but people are not jumping to do it.”

According to Chase, a “much more exciting” development came earlier this year, when the Chinese government developed a policy for “subsidy-free solar”.

This involved guaranteeing the current coal-fired power price to solar plants for 20 years, creating what is essentially a low feed-in tariff and leading to what she describes as “a lot of nice, low-risk projects”.

As for the beneficial effects of grid parity, based on how things have played out in countries where it has already been achieved, Chase says it does not necessarily mean a significant uptake of solar power will follow:

“Grid parity solar is never as popular as subsidised solar, and ironically you don’t generally have a rush to build grid parity solar because you may as well wait until next year and get cheaper solar.”

Policy proposals
In their paper, Yan and his team lay out policy changes they think would help provide an economic incentive, in combination with grid parity, to encourage the uptake of solar power systems.

Technology costs may have fallen for smaller solar projects of the type being deployed on the rooftops of businesses, but they note that the so-called “soft costs” – including installation and maintenance – tend to be “very impactful”.

Specifically, they say aspects such as financing, land acquisition and grid accommodation, which make up over half the total cost, could be cut down:

“Labour costs are not significant [in China] because of the relatively low wages of direct labour and related installation overhead. Customer acquisition has largely been achieved in China by the mature market, with customers’ familiarity with PV systems, and with the perception that PV systems are a reliable technology. However, policymakers should consider strengthening the targeted policies on the following soft costs.”

Among the measures they suggest are new financing schemes, an effort to “streamline” the complicated procedures and taxes involved, and more geographically targeted government policies.

As their analysis showed the price of solar electricity had fallen further in some cities than others, the researchers recommend targeting future subsidies at the cities that are performing less well – keeping costs to a minimum while still providing support when it is most needed.


Solar now ‘cheaper than grid electricity’ in every Chinese city, study finds | CarbonBrief

Jinyue Yan, Ying Yang, Pietro Elia Campana, Jijiang He. City-level analysis of subsidy-free solar photovoltaic electricity price, profits and grid parity in China. Nature Energy (2019), DOI: 10.1038/s41560-019-0441-z ​

 

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DFEM Completes China's First 10MW Offshore Wind Turbine
TANG SHIHUA
DATE : AUG 22 2019/SOURCE : YICAI

DFEM Completes China's First 10MW Offshore Wind Turbine​

(Yicai Global) Aug. 22 -- Dongfang Electric Machinery, a Chinese researcher and manufacturer of power generation equipment, has successfully produced the country's first 10 megawatt offshore wind turbine.

The turbine will go to work at an offshore wind farm in the southeastern province of Fujian, DEFM said today on the website of China's State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission -- a major DFEM shareholder.

 

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China operates the 4th CSP demo--Power China Gonghe 50MW Molten Salt Tower CSP Project successfully connected to the grid
2019.09.20 From: CSP Focus 光略咨询

Power China Gonghe 50MW Molten Salt Tower CSP Project was successfully connected to the grid on September 19, becoming the fourth large scale CSP project in China after CGN Delingha 50MW Trough Project, Shouhang Dunhuang 100MW MS Tower Plant, and SUPCON Delingha 50MW MS Tower Project. Up to date, the total installed capacity of large commercial CSP demonstration projects in China reaches 250MW.

With the total investment of RMB 1.222 billion, and 6 hours' molten salt thermal electricity storage, the project expects an annual electricity generation of around 156.92GWh after completion.

Thanks to the strong support and commitment from the owner Power China, and the experience and expertise of SUPCON solar (Solar Field EPC Contractor), the project is able to be developed and constructed quite smoothly.

Free Report: Power China Gonghe 50MW Molten Salt Tower CSP Plant (New)

POWERCHNIA Gonghe 50MW CSP Project is one of the first 20 national CSP demonstration projects. It covers an area of 2.12 square kilometers, and takes nearly 30,000 surface 20 square meters heliostats, and a central Tower of 210 meters.

Located in Hainan State Ecological Solar Power Park of Qinghai Province, the project has an installed capacity of 50MW and a 6 hours molten salt heat storage system.

 

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Construction on 6 GW wind power project kicks off in north China
Source: Xinhua| 2019-09-26 21:17:08|Editor: Xiaoxia

This video screenshot shows the site of a launch ceremony for a wind power project, which is the first phase of a wind power base invested in by the State Power Investment Corp. Ltd. (SPIC) in Siziwang Banner in the city of Ulanqab, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Sept. 26, 2019. Construction on the wind power project with a power generating capacity of 6 GW began Thursday in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. (Xinhua)

HOHHOT, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- Construction on a wind power project with a power generating capacity of 6 GW began Thursday in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

The project is the first phase of a wind power base invested in by the State Power Investment Corp. Ltd. (SPIC) in Siziwang Banner in the city of Ulanqab.

Qian Zhimin, SPIC's chairman, said the project involves an investment of 40 billion yuan (5.6 billion U.S. dollars) from the company.

The wind turbines have an average power generating capacity of 4.16 MW.

After being put into operation, it is expected to supply nearly 20 billion kWh of electricity to Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei every year and provide green energy for the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022.

The project could replace 6 million tonnes of standard coal and reduce the emissions of carbon dioxide by 16 million tonnes a year, said Qian.

The Ulanqab region is rich in wind power resources and has an average of 3,500 wind power utilization hours a year.

Inner Mongolia has the country's largest wind power resources with an exploitable amount of 150 GW, accounting for about half of the total in China's land area.

 

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Chinese-built solar park to power 160,000 Argentine homes
Source: Xinhua| 2019-10-04 11:05:39|Editor: huaxia

BUENOS AIRES, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- The Argentine government inaugurated a solar park built with Chinese funding and technology, with an eye to illuminating more than 160,000 homes.

Cauchari Solar Park, located atop a remote mountain peak 4,000 meters above sea level, was opened Tuesday near Cauchari, a town in the province of Jujuy, which borders neighboring Chile and Bolivia.

The 390-million-U.S.-dollar project is led by Chinese company Shanghai Electric Power Construction and 85 percent funded by the Export-Import Bank of China. The local government provided the remaining 15 percent of the funds.

The solar park "is just a taste of what the locals can offer to the rest of the country," said Argentine President Mauricio Macri via a video call at the inauguration ceremony. "It is just the beginning, because Jujuy's solar energy generating capacity is almost infinite."

Cauchari Solar Park, the largest of its kind in South America, consists of three smaller parks with a generating capacity of 100 megawatts each. It has more than 1.18 million solar panels distributed across an area of 800 hectares.

The photovoltaic plant will cut carbon dioxide emissions by at least 325,000 tons, project officials told Xinhua.

The inauguration ceremony marked the completion and trial run of two of the solar parks, namely Cauchari II and III. The remaining solar park, Cauchari I, is 75 percent complete.

Cauchari Solar Park, already in the expansion process, has helped create 1,200 jobs for local residents and indigenous people, said Macri.

The inauguration ceremony also saw the presence of Jujuy Governor Gerardo Morales, Argentina's Chief of Cabinet of Ministers Marcos Pena and Secretary of Energy Gustavo Lopetegui.

Pena said the Sino-Argentine initiative shows that "not only is it possible to contribute to the diversification of the energy matrix, but also to generate jobs and produce electricity in places where it was not being done before."

 

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China's State Grid to Build Europe's Biggest Onshore Wind Farm
DOU SHICONG
DATE : OCT 23 2019/SOURCE : YICAI

China's State Grid to Build Europe's Biggest Onshore Wind Farm​

(Yicai Global) Oct. 23 -- China's State Grid will construct Europe's largest EUR1 billion (USD1.1 billion) onshore wind farm in Ukraine, the Chinese utility giant's first green energy project on the continent, aimed at improving the local electricity supply.

State Grid's unit China Electric Power Equipment and Technology penned an engineering, procurement, and construction contract with Norwegian wind park developer NBT regarding the Zophia Wind Farm, the Beijing-based parent said on its website. State Grid has also inked a pre-financing deal with an anonymous Chinese bank.

The project will be located in Central Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia and have a total capacity of 750 megawatts. Before this, State Grid has acquired stakes in power grids in Portugal, Italy, and Greece.

State Grid continues to expand abroad as its network of investments in power grids already covers seven countries and regions, said General Manager Xin Bao'an.

Founded in 2002, State Grid ranks fifth in this year's Fortune Global 500. The CEPET is the main driver of the energy giant's engineering contracting business, operating in more than 40 countries and regions.

 

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China unveils largest self-developed wind turbine
Nov 7, 2019
New China TV

China unveils its largest self-developed wind turbine.

China develops giant offshore wind turbine
Source: Xinhua| 2019-11-07 16:32:40|Editor: mingmei

CHONGQING, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) -- China has developed a giant offshore wind turbine with a 210-meter rotor diameter, which will be put into production soon, according to the science and technology bureau of southwest China's Chongqing Municipality.

The wind turbine, coded H210-10MW, has a unit capacity of 10 megawatts and is China's first to have a rotor diameter of more than 200 meters. It was developed by HZ Windpower, a subsidiary of the state-owned China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation.

Han Huali, director of the research institute at HZ Windpower, said once put into operation, each H210-10MW turbine unit could generate about 40 million kWh of electricity annually, double the unit energy production of 5-MW turbines currently in use.

The turbines will be installed at wind farms in the coastal provinces of Fujian and Guangdong after rolling off the production line.

The institute now aims at R&D of wind turbines with larger rotor diameters of up to 230 meters, Huang added, noting they are expected to be used in the eastern provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, where average wind velocity is lower.

 

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Chinese and Greek leaders witness the contact signing of the MINOS 50MW CSP project - CSPPLAZA - Tracking Global CSP, Connecting CSP Man-Concentrating Solar Power Media

 

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BRI wind farm inaugurated in Montenegro
Xinhua | Updated: 2019-11-19 10:40

The Mozura Wind Park in Montenegro is a venture of Malta Montenegro Wind Power JV. [Photo/Xinhua]

BAR/ULCINJ, Montenegro - The Mozura Wind Park in southern Montenegro, a joint project within the framework of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), was inaugurated Monday.

The wind farm, constructed by a consortium of the Shanghai Electric Power Company (SEP) and Malta state energy provider Enemalta, is set to stabilize local power supply and help the country better harness its rich renewable energy resources.

Guests attending the inauguration ceremony at the Mt. Mozura included Montenegrin Prime Minister Dusko Markovic and his Maltese counterpart Joseph Muscat.

Joe Mizzi, Malta's Minister for Energy and Water Management, said in his keynote speech that the partnership with the SEP has enabled Enemalta to invest abroad.

"It was not easy to set up the cooperation between one of the smallest members of the European Union and one of the largest economies of the world... but finally the project offered a unique opportunity to participate in the development of Eastern Europe's energy sector," he said.

Dragica Sekulic, Montenegro's Minister of Economy, said that the SEP and Enemalta will run the wind park for the next 20 years, after which it will pass into the hands of Montenegrin people.

She said that the project shows that the further green-energy based development is achievable, and highlighted that the wind park adds additional optimism that the country's domestic energy production will continue to meet the demand, along with decreasing carbon emissions.

Sekulic estimated that this Chinese-Maltese partnership also showcases a new level of relationship between China and the European Union.

Construction of the wind farm started in November. All the 23 turbines were transported at the site and installed by the SEP before August last year, while the testing period lasted for around one year.

Chairman of the SEP Wang Yundan announced that the wind farm will provide more than 112 million kilowatt-hours of clean electricity annually for the Montenegrin people, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 95,000 tons.

"The project has received lots of attention, because it is the result of the implementation of measures within the Belt and Road Initiative," Wang said.

 

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PV product exports up in first 10 months
China Daily | Updated: 2019-12-11 11:13

Workers install solar power generation panels in Dinghai district of Zhoushan, Zhejiang province, on July 9. [Photo by Yao Feng/For China Daily]

China posed strong growth in exports of photovoltaic (PV) products in the first 10 months of this year, up 32.3 percent year-on-year.

Exports of PV products amounted to $17.74 billion, surpassing the whole volume of 2018, according to the China Photovoltaic Industry Association.

Total PV installations surpassed 190 gigawatts in the first three quarters, while the figure is expected to exceed 200 gigawatts by the end of this year, said Wang Bohua, secretary-general of the association.

China is taking the lead in PV development globally, with an internationally competitive and complete industrial chain.

 

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Roundup: Kenya launches Chinese-built 50MW solar power plant
Source: Xinhua| 2019-12-14 23:52:20|Editor: huaxia

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta (C) attends the launching ceremony of the 50 MW solar power farm in Garissa, Kenya, Dec. 13, 2019. (Xinhua/Xie Han)

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta launched one of the largest photovoltaic electricity stations in Africa.

NAIROBI, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta launched a 50 MW solar power farm located in Garissa, northeast region, with the plant being one of the largest photovoltaic electricity stations in Africa.

The project was designed and built by the EPC contractor China Jiangxi Corporation for International Economic and Technical Co-operation (CJIC), in conjunction with Kenya's Rural Energy Authority (REA).

The solar plant puts Kenya on the path of achieving green energy sufficiency as the east African nation also runs one of the largest wind farms in the continent.

The plant, which is a large solar energy installation in East and Central Africa, adds to Kenya's rich profile as the epicenter of green energy generation in Africa, Kenyatta said during the launch.

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta (R) attends the launching ceremony of the 50 MW solar power farm in Garissa, Kenya, Dec. 13, 2019. (Xinhua/Yang Zhen)

At the launch, Kenyatta noted the power plant which is near the border with Somalia is part of a broad government renewable energy strategy to harvest 400 MW of electricity from the country's vast solar resources.

He announced that Garissa, which was previously dependent on unstable thermal power, is now fully connected to the national power grid.

Kenyatta added his government will continue to initiate various development projects across the country to help the people.

"We want money allocated for development to go to the right projects but not the pockets of a few people. You, the people, are our employers and you have the right to hold us as leaders to account to make sure your money is used properly," said Kenyatta.

He said the government is keen on narrowing the development gap between regions of the country.

"I see that the gap that existed is being reduced," said Kenyatta.

Peter Mbugua, chief executive officer of REA, said the project was commissioned in November 2018, and has been generating power for the last year.

"It is occupying 210 acres and the solar panels sit on 120 acres," said Mbugua.

Aerial photo taken on Dec. 13, 2019 shows the 50 MW solar power farm in Garissa, Kenya. (Xinhua/Xie Han)

He noted that during construction, the firm dug a borehole for the community and the project employed about 600 people.

"The first beneficiaries of this project have been the people of Garissa. The county now has more stable power," he said.

Mbugua said that the project was funded through government to government agreement between Kenya and China. The equipment and technologies are from China.

"We are going to be bigger in renewable, especially by working with counties. We have done up to 26 mini grids mainly in Northern Kenya, only two are awaiting commissioning," he said.

Zhang Jian, country representative of CJIC in Kenya, said the project was started in 2017 and was completed in one year.

"The output for annual power supply from the project is 100,000 MWH. I am so proud the project was successfully completed and has state-of-art equipment. We are hopeful it will serve Kenya for the next 25 years," he added.

Aerial photo taken on Dec. 13, 2019 shows the 50 MW solar power farm in Garissa, Kenya. (Xinhua/Xie Han)

Zhang said the firm trained 50 local experts for the installation of solar panels, operation and repairs during the project.

Kenya is rich in solar energy with an annual usable amount of solar radiation and has a wide prospect of solar energy development.

The project is meeting power demand of 70,000 households (some 350,000 people) in Kenya, equivalent to some 50 percent of the population of Garissa.

Aerial photo taken on Dec. 13, 2019 shows the 50 MW solar power farm in Garissa, Kenya.(Xinhua/Xie Han)

Garissa's local economic growth is expected to receive a boost from the new power source, relieving environmental stress.

Kenya has over the years been highly dependent on hydropower, which shares about 50 percent of the power supply mix. In the dry season, the restriction of hydraulic power generation capacity has been seriously affecting the national power supply.

The developing of solar energy is in accordance with Kenya's national policies of environmental protection and energy-saving.

 

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The world's largest single-unit unit hoisting component at Wudongde HPP.
Dec 16, 2019
CTG

At 10:20 on December 16, the generator rotor of Unit 7 of Wudongde HPP, weighing 2062.6 tons, installed capacity of 850,000 KW, accurately fell into the pit. This is currently the world's largest single-unit unit hoisting component in a hydropower station under construction.

Wudongde Dam 2019乌东德水电站施工
Oct 2, 2019
Chinese bridge

10.2 GW hydroelectric dam in Jinsha River: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wudongd...

EDIT: oops!! seems I put the wrong link for the second video, and I am unable to edit it, below would be the correct video.